Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress and former Miss World. After winning Miss World in 1994 she became one of the most successful actresses in Indian cinema. She has worked in Hindi, Tamil and English-language films, including Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, Jodhaa Akbar, Enthiran and Ponniyin Selvan. She is one of the best-known Indian faces worldwide, has walked the red carpet at Cannes for more than two decades, and was awarded the Padma Shri in 2009.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Aishwarya Rai Bachchan |
| Born | 1 November 1973, Mangalore, Karnataka, India |
| Age | 52 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Actress, model |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Title | Miss World 1994 |
| Spouse | Abhishek Bachchan (m. 2007) |
| Children | 1 (Aaradhya, born 2011) |
| Known for | Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, Guru, Jodhaa Akbar, Enthiran, Ponniyin Selvan |
Early Life and Education
Rai was born in Mangalore into a Tulu-speaking family. Her father was a marine biologist, and her mother was a homemaker. The family moved to Mumbai, where she attended Arya Vidya Mandir High School and later D.G. Ruparel College. She began studying architecture at Rachana Sansad but left to pursue modelling. In 1994 she finished second in Miss India and then won the Miss World title.
Career
Rai made her film debut in Mani Ratnam’s Tamil political drama Iruvar (1997). Her first Hindi film, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, came out the same year. S. Shankar’s Tamil hit Jeans (1998) made her a star. She won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), in which she co-starred with Salman Khan. She followed it with the hits Taal (1999) and Mohabbatein (2000).
Her role as Paro in Bhansali’s Devdas (2002), opposite Shah Rukh Khan, won her a second Filmfare Award for Best Actress, and the film premiered at Cannes. In 2003 she became the first Indian actress to sit on the Cannes Film Festival jury. She starred in the Bengali film Chokher Bali (2003) and in Gurinder Chadha’s English-language Bride and Prejudice (2004). She was also in the hits Dhoom 2 (2006) and Mani Ratnam’s Guru (2007). In Ashutosh Gowariker’s historical epic Jodhaa Akbar (2008) she played the Mughal empress Jodhaa.
Rai starred opposite Rajinikanth in the Tamil science-fiction blockbuster Enthiran (2010) and in Bhansali’s Guzaarish (2010). After a break following her daughter’s birth, she returned in films including Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016). She played the twin roles of Nandini and Mandakini in Mani Ratnam’s two-part historical epic Ponniyin Selvan (2022–2023).
Personal Life
Rai married the actor Abhishek Bachchan, son of Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan, on 20 April 2007 in Mumbai. Their daughter, Aaradhya, was born in November 2011. She has been a global ambassador for L’Oréal Paris since 2003 and has been a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador.
Awards and Honours
Selected Filmography
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Aishwarya Rai Bachchan born?
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was born on 1 November 1973 in Mangalore, Karnataka, India and is 52 years old.
What is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan known for?
Known for: Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, Guru, Jodhaa Akbar, Enthiran, Ponniyin Selvan.
Featured image: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at Royal Randwick, Sydney, April 2016. Photo by Hpeterswald, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.